QUALITY FIRST

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 127, 25 November 1929, Page 12

QUALITY FIRST

\\ EXPERT CRITICISMS ;• DOMINION CHEESE TRADE y . '-Evening Post," 25th November. Sir Thomas 'Clement and other high "• (authorities in the British provision trade, '■, ■ after close personal observation in New ■.'Zealand, have pointed out. where they „;! thought improvements could lie effected \ in New Zealand dairy produce exported, • high as that quality generally is. Mr. * Euddick, Dairy Commissioner for the Do- :; -minion of Canada, has also made eompari- ,- sons between New Zealand and Canadian t cheese, as he was well qualified to do, as ■'; he had considerable experience in the ! New Zealand dairy industry before as- <-' sumption, of the .high office he holds in Canada. Some of these criticisms were ■ '. resented in Nuw Zealand, but in a general '. -way they were received in the spirit of •' helpfulness in which they were made, and '•■ as one:.resn.lt Mr. W. M. Singleton, Dairy. j Commissioner l'ov New Zealand, was ini structed by the Government, to pursue i investigations into the matter of meeting ; the British requirements as to the char- .'• acter and quality of New Zealand dairy 'j. products. --"Mr. Singleton's itinerary ini- eluded a visit to Canada and a meeting. : !with -Mr. Euddick, in which views were exchanged.. Mr. Singleton reported to ; the Domiuion Government on his return ,'. to New Zealand. In an address at Pahi- ■'; atua last week he said he felt that bis '■"i visit to the.United Kingdom and Canada ,; had been fully justified. The experience f lie had gained would be at the service ■; of and be beneficial to the industry. There .;■ were very few complaints with respect to ">; butter. - No butter on the London marV ket retained its keeping qualities to such - an extent so well as New Zealand butter, *in which . there was more uniformity. I There was room for improvement, howl "ever, in the lower scoring brands. More •- aroma would be desirable in some brands. t ..Some of the Dominion's whey and cream- :.\ ery butters were being used for blending :' "purposes. There were complaints of some .;: halted butter being so lightly salted as to .'. scarcely be able to distinguish salted from :' unsalted. I; STANDARDISED CHEESE. ?■: The trade was trying to give standard- * ised cheese a very fair run. Confidence '- \vas being established, and those at Home '. rwere now realising that they were get- •/ :ting a cheese that compared favourably ■■ with the full cream article. Analyses of ', both classes of cheese proved this. The "■ igreatest objection traders seemed to have .'. "in handling standardised was that it was y always to give an explanation 5. "of tliei difference between .it and funs'cream cheese; and such explanation took T up time. ■ Mr. Singleton said he was satisfied that J: it would pay to keep all "modified" milk 1 cheese in New Zealand rather than send : it Home, where it was more a detriment ;. to the ""trade than anything else. The "v strongest endeavours should be made to '; stabilise standardised cheese as a good ;■ quality article. ' There was some diversity of trade '.'-. opinion on waxed cheese, but he thought J that thoro Mere trades to be done in ! wa.\ixl and unwaxed cheese. I CANADIAN METHODS. ' Mr, Singleton visited several Canadian j factories. No factory there separated milk <| for cheese-making. Manufacture was not hurried. He -thought New Zealand had - got away from orthodox lines of making cheese. New Zealand cheese was more uniform than that o£; any other country, ' yet there were too many New Zealand \ cheeses, not as close in body as they , „6hould|.bV. "He-saw very few Canadian "cheeses"thaT'were "not absolutely close in ;';: body. New Zealand cheese-makers w"ere 5.: not doing their best. Quoting figures . covering the four seasons ending July !;'; last, he said before the Control Board - came into operation the percentage of cheese grading 92 1a points or finest was " between 34 and 35 per cent. When the H Control Board operated with, its differ- ■ ential prices every factory strove its uty- mast and jfthe percentage of, finest that } season went, up to 54 or 55 per cent. Next i. season, when j:he old'system of disposal >;- "was reverted to, the percentage dropped i-. from 55 down to 30 and 31 per cent, of :. finest, and last season it went down again :: to between 29 and. 30 per cent. This indicated to everyone that better could be : • done if they were only trying. Openness ]■ in New Zealand cheese had been the -.■ fact brought home to him mostly. Many j; people in the United Kingdom had ex- | pressed appreciation of the improvement •••;• in the finishing of New Zealand cheese. There was a suggestion to amend the ■' grade note in relation to the scale, of ■;■ points. At present 50 points were given for flavour, 30 for body and texture, 15 ■ for colour, and 5 for finish. It was considered that flavour should not be given such a high status in the future and that more attention should be-paid to body and texture. The new scale of points was suggested as under: Flavour 45, colour 10, body 20,. closeness 20, and finish 5. He ■wishes-to know if the industry was in i favour of this, change, ■ MK Singleton agrees that labour conditions in Canada are different from those in "New^Zealandy-but he holds that there is much in Canadian methods that can well be copied in New Zealand. NEW ZEALAND CAN DO IT. i Mr. W. A. lorns, chairman New Zealand Dairy Board, in dealing with the sub- ; ject,. of '.cheese quality, is firmly of opinion that .{'New Zealand can supply a cheese that will-lick creation!" In his November review of the season he referred to ; the question why New Zealand prices are so much lower than Canadian, he said. Let it be recognised at once that some i of the :.Canadian^ cheese are better than the New Zealand article. However, we have it from .the,most reliable source that :• the prices, of Canadian cheese as cabled to the board only apply to a small propor- ■ tion of the Canadian output, and that . there is a much wider difference between the best and the poorest quality Canadian cheese than is the case with the best and the poorest New Zealand cheese. .'-'New Zealand cheese is more uniform. ■; Butestill. this.does-not fully explain the : position occupied by these two countries on. the British market. As already indi-ca'-ted; portion of the Canadian cheese is better than New Zealand, the reason being that in Canada 3, better raw material ; is'■' being tendered to the dairy factories and more time- is being given in the processv.of manufacture. The question of giving extra time in process of manufac- . ture.is a difficult problem for dairy company directors and managers, but we are ■ convinced that' it is. a difficulty which must be overcome if the stigma of 'openness'" is to be removed from the good name of. .New Zealand cheese."